Wimbledon Tennis: Early exits, but still intrigue - Sports - International Herald Tribune

LONDON — Plenty of sunshine in the first week made for a quiet first Sunday at Wimbledon, as the stars hit the practice courts instead of the show courts.

In an expansion-minded, market-hungry sports world, Wimbledon's annual day off for rest and reflection is as unusual as, well, grass-court tennis. This remains the only one of the four Grand Slam events with a preprogrammed pause, a hiatus that seems even more of an anomaly now that the French Open has added a 15th day of play.

It does not always work out this way at the All England Club. Too much rain forced the club to open for business and its so-called People's Sunday in 1991, 1997 and 2004. But though the first day of play this year was almost a complete washout, the rest of the week was dry enough for the organizers to make up for lost matches and to bid farewell to Andre Agassi, as well as plenty of other American singles players who have not yet made retirement plans.

The defending champion, Venus Williams, was stunned by Jelena Jankovic of Serbia in the third round Saturday. The two-time finalist Andy Roddick was rocked by the Scottish teenager Andy Murray in the same round hours later.

But as always, in a tournament that is as much a fishbowl as a sporting event, there are plenty of fine potential story lines still afloat. Here is a look at the best still available, most of them not for long, as Wimbledon prepares for what presumably will be a soggier stretch run. As a show of support for the quest for equal prize money, the women get to be first this year.

A CHINESE BREAKTHROUGH For headline writers weary of trying to find space for Henin-Hardenne, Li Na is the perfect antidote. Though the name is short, the impact of her moving deep into the business end of Wimbledon would be vast for the game and for China in its quest to broaden its sporting reach beyond its traditional grasp with the 2008 Beijing Olympics as the carrot. Li, a former badminton player with powerful legs and no fear of hitting away from the baseline, upset the French Open finalist Svetlana Kuznetsova in three sets Friday and has a chance to become the first Chinese singles player to reach the quarterfinals or better in a Grand Slam. Her fourth- round opponent is the 10th-seeded Nicole Vaidisova, the powerful, fast- maturing Czech teenager.

A QUALIFIER SHAKES UP WIMBLEDON John McEnroe once reached the men's semifinals as a qualifier, but no women's qualifier has ever had that kind of impact at the All England Club. Don't bet on Séverine Bremond to be the next McEnroe, but at 26, she has managed - barely - to get through the first week. Ranked 129th in the world, Bremond upset the No.8 seed, Patty Schnyder, in the second round and saved five match points to beat the No.31 seed, Gisela Dulko, in the third. Bremond has her husband for a coach, a yen for the net and a face Botticelli might have been interested in painting.

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A FRESH FACE SAVING AMERICAN FACE American women have won six of the past seven Wimbledons, but the only American woman - or American - who still has a chance to win this year is the 62nd-ranked Shenay Perry, a late-blooming 21-year-old who has never been to the round of 16 in a Grand Slam event before. An African-American, she was inspired, in part, by the success of Althea Gibson, and Perry is going to need a whole lot of inspiration to get through a second-week draw that begins with the No.7 seed, Elena Dementieva.

BEST OF THE REST Justine Henin- Hardenne completes her collection of Grand Slam singles titles by winning Wimbledon. Agnieszka Radwanska wins Wimbledon at 17 with a world ranking of 217 and becomes Poland's first Grand Slam singles champion. Now for the men.

ROGER FEDERER FINALLY GETS VULNERABLE He has won three straight Wimbledons and 44 straight grass- court matches. He has not lost on a lawn anywhere since June 2002, when Mario Ancic served and volleyed him out of the All England Club. What more compelling story is there at this stage in the game than a Federer upset? Federer has yet to drop a set, and with that in mind, it is perhaps best to avoid singing Tomas Berdych's praises too loudly. But Berdych, the 20-year-old Czech who faced Federer on Monday, is one of the few who truly worry the Swiss with his brute force, huge serve and fine nerve. If Berdych didn't hit him off the court, maybe Ancic can in the quarterfinals.

FRED PERRY FINALLY GETS COMPANY Tim Henman epitomized the gallant English loser, reaching the semifinals four times and remaining polite along the way. But the English have presumably had their fill of gallant losers after another World Cup loss on penalty kicks. They could go for a Wimbledon champion, even if it is a skinny, feisty Scot who would rather glide along the baseline than attack the net. At only 19, Andy Murray clearly has presence, and he now has a very outside shot to be the first British man to win here in 70 years.

BJORN BORG FINALLY GETS COMPANY The toughest task in men's tennis is completing the French Open- Wimbledon double. No one has done it since Borg in 1980, and from the looks of Rafael Nadal's extreme forehand grip, no one is likely to do it this year either. But Nadal is an athletic young man and the ball is bouncing higher on the courts. He is also the only man left with a winning record against Federer.

BEST OF THE REST Novak Djokovic wins Wimbledon at 19 for Serbia and immediately declares he is switching allegiance to Britain, whose tennis officials have discussed a nationality change with him and his family. Lleyton Hewitt ends a four-year drought and wins another Grand Slam.